On August 26, the South Korean government announced plans to increase the installed capacity of renewable energy generation facilities such as solar and wind power to about six times by 2040. To cope with the surge in power demand from projects such as semiconductor industry clusters and data centers. According to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment of
Korea, the installed capacity of renewable energy in Korea will be 37 GW by 2025 and will be expanded to 220 GW by 2040. This means that 183 GW will be added in the next 15 years, which is equivalent to the installed capacity of about 130 large nuclear reactors. In
2023, the installed capacity of renewable energy in South Korea increased by 3.8GW. Adding 183 GW in the next 15 years means that South Korea will need to add an average of 12.2 GW of installed capacity annually through 2040 – more than three times the level in 2023.
Among them, solar power generation is the core of this round of renewable energy expansion in Korea. The government's goal is to increase the installed capacity of solar power from 31 GW in 2025 to 155 GW by 2040. That is to say, 124 GW will be added in 2015 .
According to calculations by the Korea Institute of Energy Economics, each 1MW ground-based solar power plant would need to occupy 9,229 square meters, so a total of about 1,144 square kilometers would be needed-almost twice the size of Seoul, or about 160,000 international standard football fields. It is difficult to acquire such a large area of land, so the Korean government plans to maximize the use of existing space, including factory roofs, agricultural and floating solar facilities, railway lines, schools, parking lots and traditional markets.
However, challenges will arise after 2030-although the government has identified the main site type for the addition of 87GW of solar energy by 2030, it has not yet announced where and how the additional 68GW will be installed.
In terms of wind power construction, the Korean government plans to increase the installed capacity of offshore wind power from 0.4G W in 2025 to 45 GW by 2040, an increase of more than 100 times. This target calculation is based on the fact that the 24.6GW offshore wind power project approved by the government and the 20GW project planned to be promoted can be implemented according to the original plan. The installed capacity of onshore wind power is also planned to increase from 2G W to 16GW, including the approved 8.1GW and new 5G W projects. Another challenge to
achieving the goal of a 500% increase in renewable energy in 15 years comes from grid infrastructure.
South Korea's large-scale solar and offshore wind farm construction sites are mainly concentrated in South Hamgyong Province and the West Sea region, while the region with the highest demand for electricity is the Capital Circle. If the power grid is not expanded in time, even new power plants may not be able to supply electricity effectively. As of 2025, 3.9 GW of renewable energy facilities are waiting to be connected to the grid.
At present. The South Korean government is pushing forward the "Sohae Energy Highway" project, which aims to transmit renewable energy power from Sohae and South Hamgyong provinces to the capital region. However, the key section from San Mian Dao to West Yellow City is expected to be completed by 2030, four years from now. Other major grid projects are also expected to be completed after 2030. Whether
these plans can be implemented and completed on time is uncertain. Power grid projects in South Korea are often delayed by local opposition and approval problems. For example, the Budangzin-Xintang transmission line, originally scheduled to be completed in 2012, was delayed by 13 years due to public opposition and approval problems , and was finally completed in 2025. The Tangjin Power Station-New Songshan Transmission Line, originally planned to be completed in June 2021, has been postponed to December 2028.
In addition, in order to solve the intermittent problem of solar and wind power generation, some supporting facilities, such as energy storage systems , need to be built. However, with the growth of installed capacity of renewable energy, the scale demand of energy storage system also increases, and the cost of installation site and the investment of safety measures also increase accordingly.
However, the relevant measures announced by the government on the same day are still at the macro level, and only promise to support the expansion of the power grid and actively promote the landing application of energy storage systems. Sun Yangxun, an honorary professor at Incheon University, said: "If the government's policy is to only consider the target of installed capacity, without taking into account whether the corresponding scale of grid expansion and construction speed can absorb new electricity, then the expansion and development policy of renewable energy may eventually lead to a large number of'abandoned electricity '."
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